19 May 2010, mongabay.com - Norway will provide up to $1 billion to Indonesia to help reduce deforestation and forest degradation, reports The Jakarta Post.

Agus Purnomo, head of the secretariat of Indonesia's National Climate Change Council, told the newspaper that the deal will be signed on May 27 and funds may start flowing as early as this year.

The agreement comes two years after Norway pledged $1 billion to Brazil for reducing Amazon deforestation. Norway has also committed funds to Guyana, Tanzania, and six Congo Basin countries under its International Climate and Forest Initiative, which allocates 3 billion krone per year to forest conservation, mostly in the tropics.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono last year said the country would cut emissions 26 percent from projected levels by 2020, and up to 41 percent if industrialized countries contribute funds. More than 80 percent of Indonesia's emissions result from deforestation and degradation of carbon-rich ecosystems like peatlands, acccording to data from the World Resources Institute.